Searching
by MinnieMay
Summary: During 'Delete' Chloe takes a tour of the Luthor mansion and makes an interesting deal with Lex. Chlex


Title: Searching   
Author: Minnie-May   
Distribution: Sure, just ask.   
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Obviously. Although I wouldn't mind owning Lex ^_~   
Summary: During 'Delete' Chloe takes a tour of the Luthor mansion and makes an interesting deal with Lex.   
Rating: PG-13   
Feedback: is my life! Please send! Send to: sweet_senshi@hotmail.com   
Notes: General spoiler warning for season three up to and definitely including 'Delete'. This story takes place during Chloe's stay at Lex's mansion during the episode. 

Searching

Chloe cradled a cup of warm tea between her already sweating palms and stared into the fire. She wondered idly if Lex always kept the fire lit. The room was already warm enough before Lex had pushed a button on the remote and the fire had sprang to life. The fire wasn't needed; it was just for effect. It summarized a lot of the house. 

Lex had asked her if she was alright and she had said she was. Just fine, dandy, only a little cut up. He had believed her easily enough because she had no reason to lie and because he was eager to get to some kind of business. It hadn't been the truth though. Chloe was not fine. She was scared out of her mind and much too warm sitting in front of the fire. She placed the tea cup down when she realized she had drained the cup nearly ten minutes ago and was now just staring into the empty mug. She still needed to be rid of the fire, the warmth of it was pressing down on her like a wet blanket and cutting off her air. 

Chloe heaved herself out of the overstuffed chair she had been relaxing in with a scream of sore muscles. She had pulled every muscle in every part of her body getting mowed over and thrown down steps. She could really just go for a warm bath at the moment. 

The small electronic remote sat on a glass counter top at the opposite corner of the room. It seemed wrong to Chloe that there should be a remote controlled fire. Fire just seemed like one of those things that people weren't supposed to be able to control. Like curiosity. 

Chloe sighed heavily and fiddled for a few minutes with the dials on the remote. All she was successful in doing, however, was making the fire blaze even stronger than before. 'Jeez, these things certainly aren't made for convenience,' Chloe thought, putting down the remote in disgust. Instead she peeled off her jacket gingerly, careful to avoid the purplish yellow bruise that was expanding on her shoulder. That was going to look real attractive. She guessed it would be long sleeves until she healed.

Chloe was finally coming out of the shock of the last few hours and suddenly she was curious to see what the rest of the Luthor mansion looked like. She had only been in the place once, to get an interview with Lex. That had ended in bruising too. She was beginning to think that talking to Lex was dangerous to one's health. But Chloe's natural desire to explore was taking over her self-preservation instincts so she eased her way to the door of the room. After all, Lex had told her to make herself at home.

She eased the door open without any of those Hollywood horror creaks that you always associated with castles. She didn't know why she expected the doors to be anything other than well-oiled. Lex had a crack staff all to make sure that the place looked as rich and fancy as possible. Chloe admired the shining wood surfaces of the walls as she walked down a long hallway, peering around. She would have imagined that she would be stopped somewhere by some big, hulking security guard who would throw her out on her ass, but there were no such guards in sight. Apparently Lex spent more time worrying that the walls were shiny than if there was a burglar. Suddenly all those attacks at the mansion were making a lot more sense. 

Chloe opened a few doors along the hallway and found nothing very interesting. A few drawing rooms. One room that seemed to be dedicated entirely to holding ancient war weapons and other artifacts. She would beat quite a sum that there was a significant amount of Alexander the Great paraphernalia if you peered around the room close enough. The guy had a name based complex. The next room caused a great peal of laughter to erupt from Chloe until she heard the laughter come back at her in a scary echo all along the glittering halls. Inside the room were framed Warrior Angel comic books, along with a book shelf along the back wall full of comics and several original panels, crisp and bright behind their frames. Lex was a comic book fan; Chloe had a hard time assimilating this new information into her old perception of Lex. She took a mental note and moved on down the hall to other rooms. 

An open door to her right caught her attention and Chloe couldn't help but peek around the door frame. The room was empty and dark at this time of night but she recognized it immediately as Lex's personal office and main base of operations. The moonlight streamed through the stained glass windows in pale beams of faded reds and blues. The place looked even spookier at night. Strangely enough, it was the only room in the entire place that bared any traces of Lex's personality. Chloe went to take a step into the room and felt a chill run down her spine. For some reason it just didn't feel right going into Lex's office without his permission. Chloe backed into the hall and went back towards the room with the fire to get her coat. It was cold after all. 

***

Back in the hallway with her red jacket swung back over her shoulders, Chloe started up the stairs at a determined pace. Chloe Sullivan was a reporter after all, and her reporter instincts would never let her live it down if she had been left alone in Lex Luthor's mansion and didn't at least look around. She wasn't really sure what she was expecting to find. Nothing, probably. There was nothing in the whole mansion, apart from the office and the Warrior Angel room, that would tell someone visiting anything about Lex's personality. That was probably the way he wanted it. 

The upstairs was much the same as down. More useless rooms. Up here somewhere was Lex's bedroom, but Chloe was in no need to invade that much of Lex's privacy. She left a dark green room that was a spare bedroom and moved on to the next door, finally growing tired of exploring. She could be here all night and not find anything juicy. There were no secret passageways or bags of money hidden in the closets, and if there was a dead body stashed here somewhere? Well it was hidden pretty damn good. 

Chloe was snapped out of her reverie by the clicking sound of a locked door. Chloe blinked at the door standing firmly in front of her and tried the knob again. Nope, nothing. It was locked. Interesting.

"Ah HA! So this is where all the good stuff is," Chloe commented to herself. 

"And what would that be?" a voice from behind her asked. Chloe spun around so quickly she gave herself whiplash and stared breathlessly at the composed face of Lex Luthor. She hadn't even heard him walk up. Either she was very, very involved in her thought process or Lex made no noise when he moved. Strangely enough, either seemed possible. 

"Lex! You nearly gave me a heart attack! There are people trying to kill me you know! You don't sneak up on a marked woman!" Chloe was still, embarrassingly, out of breath. She crossed her hands over her chest to try to make her look tough instead of scared out of her mind. It really didn't work. 

"Sorry, didn't realize I was trespassing in my own home," Lex replied, but with a smirk that said that he found the situation wholly amusing. Bastard. 

Lex stared at her for a very long moment and silence stretched between them like a giant void. Chloe silently cursed Clark for not thinking of a better plan than hiding her out at Lex's. More than anyone else she knew, Lex had the power to make Chloe uncomfortable with just a glance. And right now she was very, very uncomfortable. 

"Made yourself at home pretty quickly I see. It took Helen two weeks to find the locked room," Lex remarked casually, leaning against the other wall. Damn. He had seen her wrestling with the doorknob. Good thing she hadn't given into her first instinct and tried to pick the lock. See? She was growing from her near death experiences already. 

"Well I guess I just work faster than most people," Chloe replied, trying to keep her tone casual. She couldn't tell by Lex's tone or expression whether he was mad or amused. She wasn't sure she wanted him to be either. 

"That you do," Lex said smoothly, and this time there was something entirely different in his tone. Chloe felt warmth rush into her face. 

"So Mr. Luthor, what is it you have back there in your 'secret room'?" Chloe asked abruptly, trying to turn the subject to hard hitting journalism instead of thinly veil innuendoes. 

"I'm not at liberty to say Chloe, I don't share my secrets with the press," his eyes were gleaming with mirth and Chloe couldn't help but rolling her eyes. He was enjoying this far too much. 

"It would be off the record."

"Nothing's ever off the record, Ms. Sullivan. Might be best you learned that now."

Chloe frowned and bit her lip. Lex was doing the thing where he offered his sage, pessimistic, world-weary advice. All this secretiveness was not helping Chloe's curiosity.

"How about a hint?" Chloe asked, leaning forward on the balls of her feet. Lex leaned forward as well and just about closed the gap between the two of them. Chloe started and crashed back onto her heels. 

"Not a chance," said in a very matter of fact manner. He didn't look like he'd be budging anytime soon. Still, Chloe wasn't a quitter. 

"You know, if you don't show me what's in there I'm just going to assume it's a body. Or stolen money. Or porn."

"You're right," Lex deadpanned, "it's porn."

Chloe rolled her eyes heavenward and let out a loud huff. Lex was exasperating when he wanted to be. She realized that she wasn't intimidated by him at the moment as much as annoyed. Like she'd very much enjoy slapping him if he wasn't the one currently offering her protection. 

"Yea, I figured," Chloe said, ready to start bantering again when Lex got suddenly very quiet. His eyes stared at a point beyond her head and she could tell by the look on his face that he was considering something. She wasn't sure exactly how she should feel about that, but mostly she felt nervous. 

"Uh Lex? I just accused you of being a porn addict. Rebuttal?" Chloe asked, craning her neck forward and moving her head back and forth in front of Lex to get some reaction. He finally seemed to snap out of his daze and smiled confidently at her. She didn't like that smile at all. 

"I might be willing to show you what's in the room," he commented graciously, covering the distance between the two of them. Lex now stood within an inch of Chloe, close enough so that she could smell his cologne. It was very different than the fresh, clean boy-smell Clark had. It was older, more worldly and expensive. He had probably had it imported from somewhere. The closeness was making Chloe dizzy; she tried to step away and her back pressed firmly to the wall. 

"Really?" Chloe put on her brave, investigative reporter face and raised a brow. "Why so benevolent suddenly?"

"My, my, so suspicious Chloe," Lex reached out a hand and barely touched the side of her face with his fingertips. Chloe felt her stomach do multiple flips and this time it wasn't just nervousness. "Maybe I'm just trying to help out a…..friend." 

Chloe was sure she didn't like the way he said that last word, nor the look in his eyes that clearly said that he wanted something from her. The seduction was just part of the game but Chloe figured she might as well enjoy the perks. 

"Cut the crap Lex, what is it you want?" she pushed his hand away from her face and gave him an incredulous look, as if his seductions would never work on her. As if they almost hadn't just. 

Lex laughed and took a step back. He was still too close for Chloe's comfort but she could live with this amount of personal space invasion. She hoped Lex didn't ask for anything too troubling, because she was really curious about what was behind the door. Curiosity had nearly killed Chloe once today, but she couldn't help her need to know. 

"I appreciate that you're straightforward Sullivan," the way he said her last name it almost sounded like an endearment or a pet name. 

"It's my way."

"Well, I want a lot of things, some scotch, a pony, the last seven weeks of my life back," Lex was obviously stalling to infuriate her but she still had to know.

"A pony? Really?" Chloe grinned and raised an eyebrow quizzically. 

"He was white and gray. I was thinking of naming him Gandalf," the fact that Lex could say things like that with a straight face amazed Chloe.

"Wow, you really **are** a dork aren't you?" Chloe asked, flashing a bright smile. Lex smiled back, genuine this time, not meant to intimidate or seduce. 

"I see you've seen the Warrior Angel room."

"Hey, it'll be our little secret," Chloe said smiling at him widely. He smiled back and for a minute everything was completely comfortable. In that moment Lex seemed….almost normal. Then something shifted behind his eyes and he was the same distant Lex that she had always known. She had a feeling they were about to get back down to business. 

"I assume you still have a copy of the article you wrote on Summerholt," it was more a statement than a question but Chloe answered anyway.

"Yea, I made a few backup copies just in case something happened to the original. Why?" Chloe could already see where this was going. She dropped her hand into the pocket of her coat and felt the comforting edge of the CD case that held her article. She had grabbed one of her copies of the article before she left for Lex's just in case she might need it. 

"You give me your backup copy of the Summerholt article and I'll show you the room," Lex responded, watching Chloe like a shark. Chloe bit on her lip nervously and then set her expression to one of control and confidence. 

"Why do you want it?" Chloe asked, now equally as curious about what Lex could want with her article as she was about the room.

"I believe, Ms. Sullivan, that that's my business. I'll show you the room if you give me the disk, if not you'll be left to wonder." Chloe stared at the polished door of the room again and at the locked door knob. It was killing her. And honestly she couldn't see the harm in giving Lex her article on Summerholt. It wasn't like she didn't have backups. 

"Fine, deal." Chloe pulled the disk out of her pocket and handed it to Lex. He looked it over for a minute, as if staring at it would tell him something important, than slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket. 

"Deal," Lex said, offering his hand for a shake. Chloe put her hand in his and shook. He had a firm, purely businesses-like handshake, just as she suspected he did. 

Lex stepped to the door and pulled a small keychain out of his pocket. He took some time selecting a key and then put it into the lock. It opened the room with a click and Lex pushed the door open only slightly, blocking Chloe's view with his body.

"You can't tell anyone about what you see in here," Lex stated matter-of-factly. Chloe blinked in surprise and then shook her head.

"You never mentioned that before now. That's not fair. Deal's off" Chloe said, holding out her hand to receive her disk back. Lex merely shook his head and leaned against the half opened door. 

"There's nothing in here worth reporting on Chloe. Besides, if I really wanted this article don't you think I'd get it anyway? At least this way you get something out of the bargain." Chloe saw red. She couldn't believe it. Threatened, again, and by another Luthor yet. One would think Chloe would learn her lesson the first time around. 

"I don't appreciate threats, Lex," Chloe said, her voice as cold as ice. She put as much malice as was possible in her glare and she noticed that Lex blinked in noticeable surprise. 

"Nor do I, but they get the job done," without another word Lex opened the door and stepped into the room. Chloe begrudgingly followed him in. It was sickening but she was still curious as hell to know what the room was. As soon was she was three steps into the dark room her eyes grew as big as plates.

"Isn't that-?" She walked towards the crumpled car in the middle of the room, a beam of light illuminating every smashed curve and crushed contour. She stared at the car in amazement. She had heard about the accident but she had never seen the car before. It was totaled. Chloe inspected the car from top to bottom and then noticed something odd. 

"Lex?" she called behind her vaguely and Lex popped up at her side, again without a footstep to be heard. Chloe made a note to herself to strap a bell to the guy. 

"What is it Chloe?" he asked softly. He stared in amused interest at Chloe's fascinated expression.

"If you hit a guard rail and crashed into the water…why is the roof peeled off the top of the car?" Chloe asked with obvious surprise. Lex merely shrugged his shoulders and leaned gently against one of the dented sides of the car. 

"It's one of the many things about my near-death experience that don't add up," Lex looked around the room as he spoke and Chloe finally noticed the rest of the room, lit up by low lights around the walls. It was like Lex had collected his own Wall of Weird from the things that had happened to him in Smallville. More like a Room of Weird. Lex always thought bigger than most people.

Chloe noticed that most of the strange things represented in the room had a common theme: Clark. There was a picture of Clark and the Kents against one wall with some information on them hanging nearby. Nestled next to that was the same information Chloe had found for herself on Clark's adoption. But what really caught her attention was a computer against the far wall that was running a simulation. Chloe walked up to the computer and watched it run it's course. A speeding car hit a figure and the figure tumbled up and over the car. Chloe blinked rapidly and watched it again. 

"This is all about Clark," Chloe said in wonder. She spun so that she was facing Lex, who was still leaning against the car with some indescribable emotion on his face. Chloe stalked over to Lex in a huff and stood in front of him so he would be forced to look her in the face.

"Yea, it is. So many strange things in Smallville seem to come back to Clark Kent. I was just trying to solve the puzzle," Lex said, sounding almost earnest. Chloe shook her head and stared at him.

"You were investigating Clark," she said, and it came out more accusatory than it should have. 

"So were you," Lex replied calmly, staring at her as if he didn't understand what the huff was about. Chloe felt her blood go cold in her veins. Lex shouldn't remember what she had told him about the deal with Lionel. Supposedly the insane shock treatment that Lionel had forced the hospital to administer had rid Lex of those memories. And Clark had forced her to promise not to tell Lex, said it was the only way he could be sure Lex would stay safe. How was it that he remembered?

"How…how did you…?" Chloe struggled with the words. 

"I was there, remember? Last year when you went digging into Clark's adoption and found the crazy woman who thought she was Clark's birth mother," Lex was staring at Chloe as bit oddly now. "She tried to take an axe to my head. Ringing any bells?"

Chloe felt herself visibly relax and saw the confused and suspicious look in Lex's face. Chloe noted to herself that she needed to learn to hide her emotions better, especially in front of the Luthors. 

"Yea, sorry. It's been a weird day," she said, trying to dismiss it out of hand. Lex didn't look like he believed her but he let it slide. A first for today. Chloe looked around the room again at all the information and at the wreck of the car sitting in the middle of the room. She had never seen anything like it. She was curious again.

"So what does this all mean?" Chloe asked, sweeping her hand in a vague arc to encompass the whole room. Lex shrugged his shoulders and took a step away from the car, running his hand over a long dent.

"No idea really. I have lots of facts but no conclusions," Lex turned his icy blue stare onto Chloe and she felt a chill slid down her spine. "Anything you can do to help me with that?" his inquisitive eyes searched her face for something and Chloe hoped she wasn't giving anything away.

"No comment Mr. Luthor. Besides I think I already gave you what you wanted," Chloe said strongly, stepping towards the door of the room. She glanced at Clark's picture on the wall and could have sworn that the eyes followed her. She suddenly, desperately needed to get out of that room.

"A deal for another time perhaps," Lex said with a ghost of a smile playing along his lips. He caught up with Chloe and passed her moving through the door. She darted out after him and watched as he locked up the room once again. The hallway was far too bright after the near darkness of the room and it took Chloe's eyes a few moments to adjust. 

"Why do you keep it so dark in there?" Chloe half complained as she put up a hand to shield her sensitive eyes from the light. Lex glanced over and there was something in his face that made her think he was talking about more than lighting.

"I don't know, it just seems like something that should be kept in the dark. Don't you agree Ms. Sullivan?" 

***

Chloe watched Clark exit the Torch office and couldn't help but stare after him for a few moments. Her brain was still whirling with activity from the events of the last few days. When she closed her eyes she had a vision of the crumpled car bathed in a blue glow, saw the ripped roof. It was as if the room in Lex's mansion was seared onto the inside of her eyelids. Curiosity plagued her yet again. 

She might have been able to forget about the room with it's impossibly wrecked car and it's repeating computer simulation and it's cold bluish glow. She could have given up the mystery like she had given up so many others. But now a new vision was replacing the car, a picture of Clark tossing aside two huge bales of hay like they were toys. This mystery was considerably harder to give up. 

The thought crossed Chloe's mind that if she and Lex put together the information they had they could probably answer the mystery of Clark Kent. She could know what Clark's secret was, once and for all, and finally have an explanation to all the weird events surrounding Clark. Knowing his secret would help her protect him from people like Lionel Luthor, people that wanted to pry into his life and exploit him. The problem was, at the moment Chloe felt very much like one of those people. 

She had promised him to give up the chase, to quit trying to find out what it was about Clark that made him so different. She had hesitated because she wasn't sure it was a promise that she could keep. She had never tried to pretend she was anything other than she was. Nosy. Snooping. Curious. 

She had made the promise anyway and she hoped she'd be able to keep it. Not so easy with the knowledge that Lex was just as curious as she was. Probably more so. Luthors always need to know everything about everyone. Some kind of weird control issue, probably hard wired in the family genes. 

Chloe shook her head and walked around to sit behind her desk. It was only then that she noticed a note laying casually on her desk. She thought at first that it might be from Pete until she saw the handwriting. Much too fancy for Pete's barely legible scrawl. She picked up the note and read the contents to herself. 

'_Dear Chloe,_

I'm very glad you're ok now. Hope the computers are working alright and don't cause anyone to go homicidal on you for awhile. I very much enjoyed your company at the mansion the other night. If you're ever curious again feel free to stop by. Hell, feel free to stop by even if you're not. 

You're friend,

Lex'

Chloe read the note over a few more times before shaking her head in exasperation. She slid open the top desk drawer and moved some articles and other papers around to place the note against the worn wood of the bottom. As Chloe went to close the drawer she noticed something that caught her eye; she didn't see the other backup disk she had of her articles. She tore into the drawer, moving aside papers and being attacked by pencils and still found nothing. She moved on to another drawer until she had searched the whole desk, the whole office. 

The last backup disk was nowhere to be found. It was gone. Typical. 

THE END


End file.
